Breaking boards, and bones

Breaking boards, and bones

As Riley wakes up in a Los Angeles 5-star hotel room, his brother Jack comes to him, smiles, says, “Go get 'em, Tiger.”

“Roger Wilco, Brother.”

Already awake, Willa Sue says, “Who you talking to, Riley?” 

Still kinda in a daze, Riley tells her about it.

“What do you think it means, Dreamer Boy?”

“Maybe the topic of tonight’s visit with Larry King is supposed to be war? Maybe the Vietnam War?”

“Haven’t you worn that out already?”

“Not on television. Yet.”

They spend the day walking around Hollywood and hanging out on “muscle beach”, and have lunch and dinner at great restaurants, one 5-star, with an ocean view. 

After they get to CNN’s studio, Larry tells Mary Not Poppins that he isn’t into makeup, and he will let Willa Sue speak for herself on that topic.

Willa Sue says, “I’m not into make up. What you see, is what you get.”

Riley chirps, “And what you hear is what you get.”

Mary Not Poppins says, “Make up is pretty standard for a TV interview.”

Riley winks at Willa Sue, who says, “Well, there ain’t nothing standard about me and Riley, and what do you think his karate Sensei will think if he sees his 3rd degree black belt wearing makeup?”

Riley looks kindly at Mary Not Poppins says, “There are no fig leaves in paradise.”

“Is that kin to bears crap in the woods?”

“Yeah, and bears do other things in the woods, too.”

“And bears don’t wear makeup, right?.”

“Right, and there is something else about bears.”

“What’s that?”

“In the lore of the Real Americans, which white people used to call Indians, the bear is about introspection. Looking inside, which don’t seem very popular with Fake Americans.”

“You plan to tell Larry and the rest of America that on TV tonight?”

“Why not? Looking inside is not something America has done much off, if at all, since the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock.”

Willa Sue laughs, says, “Can’t take him anywhere.”

Larry King welcomes Riley and Willa Sue to his show, which averages 1,000,000 viewers per episode.

Riley and Willa Sue thank Larry for having them and wave and say, “Hi”, to the viewing audience.

Larry begins with, “Riley, word is President Bush invited you and Willa sue to the White House, and the three of you had a private conversation. You ;published that on your blog, strangerandficiton.com.”

“That’s correct, Larry.”

“Can you tell us more about what you and President Bush talked about?

“I told President Bush, who, with his daddy’s influence, was a Vietnam war draft dodger and got away with going AWOL from the Alabama Air National Guard, that I didn’t envy him having to deal with 9/11, which his father had set up when he was president. I told President Bush that, if he sends American soldiers into Afghanistan, he is responsible to God for what happens to them. I told President Bush that I hope he finds another way to deal with Osama bin Laden, than killing and maiming a lot of American soldiers.”

“Don't you think, Riley, that bin Laden should be brought to justice?”

“Yes. But not by invading Afghanistan and starting another Vietnam-like war, which will make a lot of rich, white American men a lot richer, which is what the Vietnam war did, and how did that war turn out, Larry?”

“America lost that war.”

“That’s right, Larry. America lost that war. If America invades Afghanistan, it will lose that war, just like the British and the Soviets lost the wars they started in Afghanistan.”

“Your older brother was killed in Vietnam, Riley.”

“Yes.”

“What year was he killed?’

“1972.”

“How old was he?”

“Twenty-two.”

“How old were you?”

“Fourteen.”

“How did that affect you?”

“I wanted to kill President Johnson, whom I had watched promise on national television that he would never send American boys to die in a war in Asia.”

“Yes, I remember seeing President Johnson say that on TV.”

“Lyndon Johnson was responsible to God for every American soldier he sent to Vietnam. Johnson’s karma was huge. He might spend a number of lifetimes dealing with it,”

“You are talking about reincarnation, Riley?”

"Yes. And karma. President Johnson, and every American who had something to do with American soldiers being in Vietnam, and every American who did not protest that war, created serious karma. But Johnson’s karma was foremost, because he was Commander-in-Chief, and I hope President Bush is watching this show tonight, Larry.”

“Riley, many people do not believe in reincarnation,”

“Christians mostly don’t believe in reincarnation, and most Americans are Christians. So, I suggest they study their Bibles harder, and find where Jesus and his disciples spoke of reincarnation.”

“What? Please say more.”

“When a disciple asked Jesus if John the Baptist had returned, as prophesied in the Old Testament, Jesus said, yes, but he was not recognized, and the disciples understood he meant John the Baptist was Elijah who had returned, and would get his head chopped off. So, what kind of karma did Elijah create to cause that?”

“That’s really interesting, Riley.”

  “There’s more, Larry. After Jesus gave sight to a man who was born blind, a disciple asked Jesus, who had sinned, the man or his parents, that he was born blind? How could the man  sin before he was born, unless he had sinned in a prior life?”

“I’m gobsmacked, Riley.”

“So should all of Christendom be gobsmacked, but good luck waking the dead, so to speak.”

“What did this disciple mean by the man’s parents had sinned?”

“Jesus and his disciples were Jews. In their scriptures, which Christians call the Old Testament, is reference to the sins of the parents being visited on the children for several generations. So, the man could have been born blind because of something his parents or grandparents had done before he was born.”

“That’s logical, based on those scriptures.”

“However, in that situation, Jesus told his disciples it was not for those reasons that the man was born blind, but it was so that when Jesus gave the man sight, the glory of God could be seen.”

“Have you ever considered going into the ministry, Riley?”

“Not in that way, Larry. Christianity has its own hard and fast views, like layer in steel reinforced concrete, and there is no place there for someone with my views, but there are places. Prison was one place. I read the Bible a lot there, I saw things in the words that I had not seen before. Oprah’s show is another place. Maybe your show is another place. Willa Sue’s and my blog, strangerthanfiction.com is another place.”

“This is a lot to take in, Riley.”

“Agreed, but Jesus and his disciples had those discussions in the Gospels, and note, Larry, Jesus did not tell his disciple that his question about who had sinned was wrong, but there was another possibility. A number of religions say reincarnation is very real, and elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus said, as you sow, so shall you reap. Not all karma is rough. Karma flows from what we sow, and there is good karma. However,. waging war creates horrible karma. The Vietnam war fractured America’s collective soul. A war in Afghanistan will fracture America’s soul even more.”

“Much food for thought, Riley”

“It’s fact, Larry.”

“Did you bring boards for you and Willa Sue to break, Riley?”

“Yes, but maybe enough boards already got broken?”

“Maybe, but how about just one board?"

Riley looks at Willa Sue, says, “You want to do it?”

She smiles, reaches down past her pants suit and takes off her shoes. 

Riley reaches into an old leather briefcase he brought along and brings out a 2-foot 2x4 plank and walks away from the table where they were sitting. Willa Sue walks over and faces Riley, who holds the plank away from him with one hand on each end. Willa Sue rotates her body left and her head downward, as she coils her right hip, thigh, knee, shin and foot, and shouts “kia!” and launches the right side of her spring-loaded flattened right heel through the board, which snaps in half with a loud ‘crack’”.

Larry says, “I’m gobsmacked again. Can you two come back for another show soon?” 

        Willa Sue nods, yes, and Riley says, “Larry, there’s a great deal I could have said tonight about how the Vietnam war was invented, because America wanted access to Vietnam’s rubber trees and natural resources. I covered that in the 'Critical Vietnam War history v. theory' post at strangerthanfiction.com. The blog is not copyrighted and can be freely shared.”

Larry says, "I read your blog, and that blog post convinced me that rubber was the reason for the Vietnam war. How could every American, including me, not see the linkage between President John F. Kennedy and his brother Bobby, and Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcom X opposing an American war in Vietnam and then being shot and killed? I printed out that blog post and, after a station break, I will read it to the viewing audience. Every American needs to know what the Vietnam combat vet Charlie wrote to you. Later tonight, I will post his email at larrrykinglive.net."

Station Break

Willa Sue says, “Before you read Charlie's email, Larry, I think I need to tell what Archangel Michael told me in my sleep about a month after Riley locked me in his home gymnasium. I know this isn't going to be well-received by women, but what I heard was, 'All women on this planet are in a rabid war with God, and that war is the cause of all wars, including all man-made wars.' I for sure was in a war with God, because of what my family had done to me. Riley said he thought what Michael told me made sense in the context of women being second-class citizens on this planet, and deep down inside they blame God for that. However, it's men who start wars, and it's men that fight them, mostly. Maybe a poem sent to us by a south Alabama amiga, which I will read, speaks to that? She said it came to her from somewhere above.

All want the security of the well fed pig.

Horror at the baseness unrecognized.

A lifetime spent in shirt stuffing.

And pen comparison.

Is truth more palatable when honeyed?

Is a stark soulscape less so with the eyes of Monet?

May my affectations always be understood.

        And perhaps a poem sent to us by someone going by "African Queen", which I also will read, also speaks to what's wrong with hu-MAN-i-ty?

Eve’s Answer

April Fool

Vexing Truth

Life is Poetry,

Poetry is Life,

There's no more to say,

but that would 

make God

a really dull boy,

now wouldn't it,

Eve?

So, Eve,

What say you?

After all,

You have been,

still are, blamed,

for everything that went wrong with

hu - MAN - i - ty.

Well, do you really want to hear

what I gotta say?

Is this one of those

be careful what you ask for

pregnancies?

Well, is it?

Probably, but say

what you wish -

I s'pect you need

to be heard.

Heard?

Funny you mention ears.

Yes, ears.

Such important receptacles.

Yet filled with concrete, 

shit, propaganda, beliefs,

certainties, well,

let's not leave out

SUPERSTITION

and

RELIGION,

should we?

By the way,

where do ya

suppose

God came from?

Or, out of?

And, 

why do ya s'pose

I made Eve

in my own 

IMAGE?

'Cause Adam was

so bored and dull -

so ... predictable

He was BORING!!!

the shit outta me!!!

That's why.

Now

    Shusssssh -

Don't go round quoting me on

any of that -

I've had quite enough of

the religious right

ta last me 

the rest of forever